Oh, Vienna.

History As part of the BBC's World War One commemorations (is that the right word?), the news magazine is running a series of articles from correspondents throughout Europe about various cities, capturing the mood, that sort of thing. Bethany Bell is in Vienna:

"A few months ago, a Viennese friend frowned as he stirred his coffee. We were sitting in Cafe Griensteidl, in the centre of town.

"I'd just told him that, even after 15 years of living here, I'm still haunted by Vienna as it was just before the outbreak of World War One, before the defeat that led to the collapse of the rotting Austro-Hungarian Empire.

"But don't lots of periods of history feel close in Vienna?" he asked. "You've got Mozart and the Baroque, you've got the 19th Century and the Ringstrasse, you've even got the Flak towers of the World War Two… Why not focus on them?"